God Is In the Schools

It’s a popular image which circulates on the internet after some tragic event at a school, “Dear God, why do you allow so much violence in schools? Signed, Concerned Student. Dear Student, I’m no longer allowed in schools. Signed, God.” It’s a cute image to like on Facebook after a significant tragedy, making us feel good as we blame others for the evil in the world. The problem is it’s neither productive or true. It’s self-serving, self-congratulating, and self-deceiving. (See: The Best Way to Start the School Day)

It serves us as we blame others for our problems. If others would just become like us, the world would be perfect.

It congratulates us by pretending that we have it all together and we know the simple answers to very complex problems.

It deceives us by making us feel as though we have done something to make the world better, when in reality simply liking a false post is in no way helpful and is actually hurtful.

The truth is that God has never been kicked out of school. He’s there, in:

Teachers who love their students and seek to show the love of Christ to each of their students

Principals who sacrifice in order to lead and teach in the midst of many demands

Paraprofessionals who use their training and skill to help every student

Students who seek to make Jesus known in the midst of everyday life

Parents who pray, volunteer, and serve to give their kids all that they can

God never left the schools. We couldn’t kick him out if we wanted to do so. How powerful do we think we are if we believe we can kick God out of schools? We can’t.

Yet when we deceive ourselves into believing that God is not there, it’s easy to blame every ill on his absence and to miss every action of his presence. When we think God is absent, we don’t recognize the good he is doing. We fail to praise him for his activity. We become fixated on the bad without every realizing the good.

When we think God is absent, we devolve into apathy. If God is present, we can join him in his work. The opportunities are endless when we believe God is near. However, when we wrongly conclude he is absent, we believe there is little we can do until he returns. We fret, but we don’t act.

The sad truth is that secretly, we would rather God be absent and us not to have to do anything than for God to be present which would demand a response from us. But God is not absent.